To the Editor: Manzullo works for USCC lobbyists

Don Manzullo has been endorsed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for voting according to the desires of its lobbyists. Is that something he should brag about?

Consider that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce (USCC) solicits and receives millions in donations from foreign corporations. And consider the fact that it spent millions of dollars to lobby the Senate to block a bill proposed by Senator Durbin that would stop tax breaks for companies that move jobs overseas. The bill also would give a two-year tax holiday to companies that move jobs back to the U.S. Durbin’s bill would have resulted in a flood of jobs returning to the U.S. But the USCC, with its millions in foreign corporate, convinced every Republican in the Senate, as well as four Democrats, to oppose Durbin’s bill.

That action by the USCC was not an anomaly. The USCC regularly lobbies Congress to oppose the interests of American workers, lobbying against the minimum wage, workers’ rights, and regulations that keep consumers safe. So we can see that the USCC’s loyalties lie not with the American people but with the wealthiest corporations, foreign and domestic.

Don Manzullo, in his 18 years in Congress, has done the will of the USCC’s lobbyists most of the time. Meanwhile, the wealth of our country has flowed to the very few at the top while the rest of us have seen wages stagnate or lost our jobs entirely. Who does Don Manzullo work for, the lobbyists who line his campaign coffers with money from foreign corporations or the people in northern Illinois who need jobs?

It’s time to elect someone to Congress who is not a part of USCC lobbyists. It’s time to elect someone who will stand and fight for the workers of America and of northern Illinois. George Gaulrapp has stepped forward to do that job. He’s the right man at the right time. Vote for George Gaulrapp on Nov. 2.